The Home Depot: build a safer future and ban PVC!

Building materials we use in our homes shouldn’t expose consumers, communities, or workers to carcinogens or other harmful chemicals.

That’s why we are calling on The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, to take action and phase out the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic in its building materials and packaging. The Home Depot can leverage its leadership and influence to “help doers get more done,” with safer building products.

PVC, the poison plastic 

PVC is made from vinyl chloride, a cancer-causing chemical that poses serious public health hazards, from manufacturing to disposal. Low-income communities and communities of color where it is manufactured, such as in Texas and “Cancer Alley,” Louisiana, face even greater risks. These communities are home to plastics factories that produce vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, and other hazardous feedstocks. PVC plastic companies produce a staggering 10 to 20 billion pounds of vinyl chloride in the U.S. annually. 

Our research has revealed that the ongoing rail shipment of vinyl chloride puts millions of U.S. residents at risk and has caused devastating health and environmental damage from accidents that have occurred. 

Most recently, the tragic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio released nearly 900,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, sickening residents and first responders and contaminating entire communities. 

The number one use of vinyl chloride is to make PVC for building products like vinyl flooring and siding. Retailers like The Home Depot continue to sell PVC, despite safer alternatives being available. In 2023, over 269 million pounds of PVC were put into flooring in the U.S. This dangerous plastic poses a threat not only to the communities where it’s produced and transported, but also to the millions of consumers who buy these products. 

DIY shouldn’t spell danger

PVC building materials and packaging are often filled with a toxic mix of additives, such as phthalates, toxic flame retardants, and heavy metals, exposing The Home Depot customers and workers to these chemicals. Over time, PVC products release these chemicals and can degrade into microplastics, which build up in our bodies, pollute water, and pose health threats to people, fish, and wildlife. 

And there’s no safe way to dispose of this poison plastic. When incinerated or burned in accidental building fires, PVC releases toxic chemicals such as hydrogen chloride gas and dioxins, which pose serious health risks like cancer to building occupants, firefighters, and other first responders.

The Home Depot: lead the way. Build a safer future without PVC!

We know change is possible. In the past, The Home Depot has led the industry in removing harmful chemicals from its products. They’ve eliminated phthalates in flooring, PFAS in carpets, and deadly methylene chloride in paint strippers. More recently, they’ve made progress reducing the use of PVC in their private-label packaging. However, PVC continues to be used in brand-name packaging and many other products it sells. 

Now they have the opportunity to lead once again. We urge The Home Depot to phase out PVC by reducing packaging and selling safer, healthier materials like linoleum flooring and recycled copper piping. It’s time for The Home Depot to step up and do its part to solve this public health crisis and protect the communities it serves.

It’s time for The Home Depot to hammer out PVC!

Join us in telling The Home Depot: build a safer future and ban PVC!